Teaching Strategies
In order for students to get a rich learning experience out of this content-heavy unit, there will be a number of teaching strategies and methods used such as Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), close reading strategies, Constructing Meaning, multi-ability group tasks, various forms of Socratic seminars, and the use of historical thinking skills as an analytical device for students. Most of the course’s lesson plans have Explicit Direct Instruction embedded in them. This model guides teachers by requiring: clear skill and content learning objectives stated to students; learning entry points that activate students’ prior learning; various methods to check for understanding throughout the lesson; delivering information through explicit explaining, modeling, and demonstrating; concept and skill development; guided practice; and a gradual release to independent practice.
Students will also partake in content-based multi-ability group tasks that will expect students to research, identify their fellow students’ multiple abilities, and collaborate and communicate as a group. These tasks will culminate in whole group debriefs, where students report their research findings, their collaborative process, and are expected to teach the class about the topic they were assigned with the expectation that student audience write notes using specific note-taking tools.
Since there will be challenging text-based evidence that will be analyzed throughout this unit, I will be modeling sourcing documents through close reading strategies where we will read various texts while annotating and identifying origin, purpose, content, and possible value and limitations disclosed based on origin and purpose. Through the development of sourcing,13 students consider the author of the document within its historical context and analyze the intentions and purpose of the document to disclose the author’s perspective and evaluate the sources’ reliability and bias. Sourcing is essential specifically in the discipline of history to fully understand documents and use them as evidence in historical writing and class discussions.
Another strategy that will be used in this unit are various forms of seminars to foster academic discussion and student understanding of the content. Students will participate in Socratic Seminars guided by historical focus questions to analyze the reliability of documents, historical patterns, historical significance, causes and effects of historical events, and historical perspectives. I will also have students participate in historical role play seminars by researching historical actors and participating in seminars as if they were a specific historical figure giving their perspective on specific historical events.
An additional teaching strategy that I will implement is first person creative writing where students again take on the role of a historical actor and write short pieces such as speeches and diary entries that unveil the perspective of historical figures within a historical context. I will also be assigning a number of historical writing essay assignments that will be implemented throughout this unit based on the prescribed IB paper 3-mark bands which is essentially one of the major course objectives since this class is preparation for a specific IB exam taken Senior year. The paper 3-mark bands at the highest level should meet the following:
- Responses are clearly focused, showing a high degree of awareness of the demands and implications of the question.
- Answers are well structured, balanced and effectively organized.
- Knowledge is detailed, accurate and relevant. Events are placed in their historical context, and there is a clear understanding of historical concepts. Examples used are appropriate and relevant, and are used effectively to support the analysis/evaluation.
- Arguments are clear and coherent. There is evaluation of different perspectives, and this evaluation is integrated effectively into the answer.
- The answer contains well-developed critical analysis. All, or nearly all, of the main points are substantiated, and the response argues to a reasoned conclusion.
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